Reflections
by declan424
Summary: Betsy comforts Warren after he has had a fight with Bobby. slash. please R/R


Author's Note: I do not own these characters, nor am I making any money from this. I just felt compelled to write this piece. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Reflections  
  
"Thought I'd find you here, blueboy," said Betsy with a warm smile as she sat down next to Warren on the hard ground. He was sitting on Lanis Point, knees folded into his chest with his arms hugging his legs. Betsy allowed her eyes to behold the once arrogant Angel, a man believed to be hard as stone, now rocking back in forth like a helpless child trying to find comfort from his wounds. And those wounds ran deep, Betsy knew.  
  
"Guess it wasn't too difficult a task finding me, Bets. After all, you are a telepath," Warren said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He didn't mean to say that really. Truth was he just wanted some quiet time to gather his thoughts.  
  
Betsy smiled. "Considering the circumstances, I'll let that slightly nasty remark slide. But I didn't use my power to track you, Warren. I remembered this mountain was your private place of refuge above and away from the rest of the world. God knows I drove you here enough," regret registering in her voice. She couldn't even begin to count the times they had argued about something or other, only to have Warren spread his mighty wings and fly off, no longer able to take the fighting.  
  
"Warren," Betsy continued, trying to form the right words in her mind, hoping to avoid causing more damage to his already wounded pride. "I know you feel like you need some time alone right now, but I think what you really need is a friend. I just want you to know that I'm here, as a friend, to listen."  
  
Warren lifted his head and turned those sky blue eyes towards Betsy. She braced herself for the anger that she expected she would find there, but instead was greeted with a look of utter hurt and sorrow. The eyes never lied, and no matter how strong a front Warren put up, his eyes betrayed him to the pain that was eating away at his very soul.  
  
Betsy put her arm around Warren, mindful of the powerful white wings attached to his shoulderblades, letting him rest his head against her shoulder. Warren allowed himself to settle into Betsy's embrace, not wanting to give in to his emotions, but not strong enough to fight them off as he had done all his life. He, the great Warren Worthington, III, millionaire, playboy, hero, man, was reduced to being cradled like a helpless child in the arms of another. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, it felt good.  
  
"Betsy," he began, not sure if he could follow through but needing the chance to try, "how did I manage to mess things up in my life so badly? Here I am, a man believed to have everything, but in reality not having anything that really matters. All I wanted was for him to love me." Warren couldn't finish the sentence and couldn't control the tears that freely streamed from his eyes. He wept into Betsy's shoulder, letting the flood of emotions break forth through the dam that he had worked so hard to resurrect. That dam was gone now and there could be no turning back.  
  
"Shh, it's ok, Warren, I'm here." Betsy felt as though her heart were being ripped out as she watched this man whom she had loved, still loved, break down in her arms. She knew he needed this release, but that certainly didn't make it any easier. She could always use the excuse that it was due to her being a telepath-after all, one can't help but feel another's pain when they can read thoughts and emotions. She could also say it was because they were teammates, friends willing to fight alongside one another and freely sacrifice themselves for others should the need ever arise. But that wasn't entirely true either. The fact was that she and this man had shared a past together, had formed a bond that could never truly be broken no matter how hard each one tried. His pain was her pain now and vice-versa.  
  
"I'm. I'm sorry, Betsy," Warren managed to say in barely a whisper. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this." He had vowed long ago never to let another see him in such a weakened state as he was in now. Tough men didn't cry after all-wasn't that what society had established since the dawn of time?  
  
"I'm not," replied Betsy as she gently stoked Warren's blonde hair, remembering how he had always liked it when she did that-how it tended to calm him into a state of peacefulness. Maybe she hadn't done it enough in the past. Maybe no one had.  
  
"You've spent your entire life trying to be the man you thought you should be. The man you thought your father wanted you to be. Rich, arrogant, manipulative-all of the qualities of a true Worthington. But the truth is, Warren, that you are none of those things. Sure you come off that way, but those select few who get to see the real you, those that you choose to let into your world, know that beneath that powder blue skin and those massive white wings lies a loving and caring man who can laugh as well as cry just like the rest of us, a man who is not quite as secure in his own skin as he pretends to be. I always saw it and I truly believe that Bobby does too."  
  
There it was-his name. Just hearing Betsy say it was almost too much to bear. Bobby, the man of ice who somehow managed to melt the walls Warren had erected around his heart. No one had ever been able to reach the core of Warren like Bobby had. Others came close, the woman now holding and comforting him was one, but Bobby was the only one Warren had let all the way inside and given his heart to. But as usual, he managed to screw it up. Happiness was always a wonderful illusion to Warren-something to dream about but never obtain. He used to blame fate, cursing her for giving him glimpses of the dream, dangling it in front of him like a child teasing a wide-eyed puppy with a ball, and then pulling it away just as he was about to take hold of it. That was how he used to feel, but not any more. Now he could see the truth, and it scared him beyond anything he could ever imagine. He had never achieved happiness because he never truly allowed himself to believe it. Always waiting for the perfect person, the perfect life, the perfect dream that he thought was out there. No one ever measured up to his standards, his impossible standards, so it was on to the next person, and so forth until Bobby came along.  
  
He and Bobby had been friends for over ten years now--God was it really ten years--two scared teenagers with freakish mutant powers thrown together at Professor Xavier's school for the gifted or cursed, depending on how you chose to look at it. The two young men were complete opposites, one a class clown from a middle class upbringing and the other a spoiled brat from the social elite who only let the cold surface be seen. Yet they quickly became friends, each one learning from the other, exploring new things, learning new lessons. Side by side they had saved the world numerous times over.  
  
Warren treasured that friendship more than anything else in the world. When he was down, Bobby was always there to make him laugh with his corny jokes and twisted sense of humor. When Bobby's family was experiencing financial trouble, Warren was there with a check, happy to do some good with his family's money for change. Over the years the friendship grew, and Warren began to feel more for Bobby than he was ready to admit or deal with. He turned to women, and tried to lead the life of a carefree playboy, all the while burying those secret desires and feelings for his friend in the back of his mind, never believing that anything could ever come from them, but hoping against hope that one day he would be proven wrong.  
  
And then there was Betsy. The purple-haired beauty came into his life so unexpectedly and threw him for a complete loop. Mysterious, brooding, rich, sexy -the female equivalent to Warren, or so he believed. They seemed to be the perfect pair and soon found their friendship blossoming into something more. But it was doomed from the beginning. Warren never opening up to the woman he couldn't get to open up herself. Maybe they were both scared of what would happen if they did. Maybe they were each other's security blanket, someone to hold on to during cold nights. But that eventually wasn't enough for either of them, and they found themselves at each other's throats more and more, neither willing to back down or admit guilt. Finally they could take no more and decided to call it quits, a painful decision but one they both felt was necessary. Warren did love Betsy, of that there was no question, but he had already committed his heart to another, and there just wasn't enough room for two no matter how hard he tried. Betsy knew that-she always knew. The unspoken knowledge they shared could fill volumes. She could see into his soul, down to the very darkest parts that he had spent years burying under as many layers as he possibly could. They were able to stay friends though, and for that Warren was truly grateful. Here she was now, his lover once and now friend, helping him through the most difficult time in his life.  
  
"Thank you, Betsy," he said as he moved closer into her embrace, inhaling the Channel No. 5 that she always claimed was her signature scent. "You always seem to be there when I need you most."  
  
"That's what friends are for, Warren," she replied, gently kissing his golden hair. "I'll always be here for you no matter what. But I'm not the only one, you know."  
  
Warren sat up and looked at Betsy, a puzzled look displayed on his face. "What do you mean?"  
  
"There is someone else who will also be there for you. Someone who loves you even more than I do, even though you may not believe it right now."  
  
Bobby. That's who she was referring to. Warren's long-time friend and now lover. It was still hard to admit that last part even though it was what Warren had secretly dreamed about for so long. That one day in October would always stand out clearly in his mind for as long as he lived-the day when his heart could take no more and he finally admitted his feelings to Bobby, expecting a crushing rejection but receiving a welcoming kiss instead. And that's how their romance began-with one gentle kiss beneath an oak tree as the red, brown, and orange leaves of fall fell to the ground around them. Before they knew it they were madly in love, neither one feeling like he could live without the other. Now everything was a complete mess. The romance was over, replaced by the harsh, cold mistress of reality, sorrow, and despair.  
  
"I can't face him, Betsy," Warren began, trying to hold back the ever- present grief he felt lurking in his heart. "Not after what I did to him. I've lost him, and I'm sure he would be much better off without me."  
  
"You know, Warren, for an intelligent guy, you sure can be pretty dumb sometimes. It's no wonder I dumped your sorry ass." That did it-that got a smile out of him. "Bobby loves you and part of love is accepting the other person for who he is, both the good and the bad. You never seemed to get that though did you? You always expected to meet that perfect person, that embodiment of perfection itself, who could lift you higher than those wings of yours ever could. Well, my dear, the sad truth is that there are no perfect people on this or any other planet. We all make mistakes-that's a human characteristic, but we also forgive others when they make mistakes, especially the ones we love and care about."  
  
"But, Betsy, he could never forgive me for what I did to him. I don't think I can ever forgive myself."  
  
"So you had a fight. Big fucking deal. We had lots of fights but we still managed to move past it."  
  
"We also broke up in case you forgot," Warren responded.  
  
"There it is, the smug arrogance of the old Warren," Betsy retorted, shooting Warren a glance that could freeze water. "This isn't about you and me, and you know it. This is about a man you claim to love more than anyone or anything else in your life. Isn't that love worth fighting for, Warren? Or are you planning on retreating back into that self-made cocoon of yours and move on to try and once again find that person that you bloody well-know doesn't exist?"  
  
And there it was. The simple truth that fell from Betsy's lips was exactly what he had been thinking. She was right of course. She was always right.  
  
"Do you really think he'll still want me?," Warren asked, his voice a mixture of earnest sincerity and just a touch of hope.  
  
"If he truly loves you as much as you love him, then he would be a bigger idiot than you not to." Betsy smiled as she saw that familiar glow return to Warren's cloudy eyes. "Of course sitting here on a mountain chatting with your ex-girlfriend isn't going to help anything."  
  
Warren leaned over and kissed Betsy's cheek, his cold lips finding a trace of heat in her warm flesh. "I'm not sitting on a mountain chatting with my ex-girlfriend. I'm sitting on a mountain chatting with my friend." He smiled that charming smile of his that he had developed so well over the years--that smile that could make both men and woman fall to their knees in adoration of this man.  
  
"Go on, get out of her," Betsy jeered as she stood up and pulled Warren to his feet. "I don't want to have to kick your ass again," she added with a sly wink and a grin.  
  
Warren spread his magnificent wings and took to the air, racing back to the man that he loved and hoping that he wasn't too late.  
  
Betsy watched as Warren rose in flight, a beautiful Angel flying among the puffy clouds back to Heaven. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fight back the single tear that flowed from her eye and ran down her check as soft as a lover's touch. Bobby and Warren would make up, of that there was no doubt. It was obvious to anyone that the two were madly in love, the way their eyes lit up every time the other walked into the room. Warren had never looked at her the way he looked at Bobby, and she knew he never would. Bobby did something that neither she nor any other of Warren's lovers ever could-he made Warren complete. And for that, Betsy was truly happy, even though it pained her heart to admit it. 


End file.
